In a sea full of SUVs, the Ford Bronco stands out as one of the few that can go off-road right out of the factory. Now, two different reports from owners indicate that there may be a problem with the off-road-focused Trail Turn Assist feature. In both cases, the Ford dealerships allegedly denied warranty coverage.
The Bronco isn’t just capable off-road because of its ground clearance or approach and departure angles. It’s capable because of all the technology that’s been put into it from Ford. One feature, Trail Turn Assist, is intended to help drivers out of tricky situations by reducing the Bronco’s turning radius.
It does this by applying brake pressure to the inside of the rear wheel in “low speed, high steering angle maneuvers”. According to at least two owners, engaging this system caused their axles to break and Ford does not cover repairs.
More: Ford recalls 2023 Bronco, Ranger after wheel fell off, allegedly colliding with another vehicle
It first appeared on Bronco6G.com in April. One owner was surprised to find that the welds were broken on the rear axle and asked the community how this could happen. One response blamed the problem squarely on Trail Turn Assist saying in part “Forces from one brake that locks, and the other side that unlocks, combine with forces that want to cause the axle to twist or the gear to lift (twist) too much for Dana Spicers housing.”
They keep saying this has happened to others and their solution was to weld all the way around the joint. This repair isn’t something a customer should do on a new SUV, and for most people, it’s not practical. The same original poster came back a day after the thread started to say the dealer “won’t cover it because I take it off road.”
Someone else started a post saying “Trail Turn Assist causes axle weld failure that dealer will not guarantee!!!” According to them, “The axle tubes were not properly welded from the factory to handle the braking force of the inner tires while activating Trail Turn Help on our cars.” Later in the thread, he says that the reason his warranty claim was denied by the dealer was because the Bronco had an “aftermarket suspension modification.”
It should be noted that Ford’s own documentation says “Ford Broncos are designed to meet customer demands during off-road adventures… Use of the vehicle as described in the Owner’s Manual > Driving/4WD Tips, does not void the vehicle’s warranty.”
Of course, using it as intended is a key factor when it comes to determining how much coverage a warranty provides. Ford also offers caution with regards to Trail Turn Assist, specifically saying “Do not use lane turn assist on dry, hard roads. Doing so can produce excessive noise, increase tire wear, and may damage the driveline, or driveline components.” Braking. Lane Turn Assist is only intended for slippery or loose surfaces.”
This seems to indicate that there are very limited use cases for the feature and that engaging it outside of those cases could result in a denial of coverage. It’s also worth noting that since we haven’t seen any video or hard evidence that Trail Turn Assist actually caused these broken welds, it’s impossible to say for sure that there’s nothing else to blame.
Regardless, we’ve reached out to Ford hoping to get a better idea of what’s going on here. We’ll update this post if we hear back.
array(12) {
[0]=>
string(439) "
In a sea full of SUVs, the Ford Bronco stands out as one of the very few that can go far off-road straight out of the factory. Now, two different reports from owners suggest that there might be an issue with the off-road-focused Trail Turn Assist feature. In both cases, Ford dealers have allegedly denied warranty coverage."
[1]=>
string(445) "
The Bronco isn’t just off-road capable because of its ground clearance or approach and departure angles. It’s capable because of all of the technology baked into it from Ford. One feature, Trail Turn Assist, is meant to help drivers get out of tricky situations by reducing the turning radius of the Bronco."
[2]=>
string(252) "
It does that by applying the brakes to the inside rear wheel in “low-speed, high steering angle maneuvers”. According to at least two owners, engaging that system caused their axles to break and Ford isn’t covering the repairs."
[3]=>
string(250) "
More: Ford Recalls 2023 Bronco, Ranger After Wheel Falls Off, Allegedly Hits Another Vehicle"
[4]=>
string(2618) "
The first popped up on Bronco6G.com back in April. An owner was surprised to find his plug welds broken on his rear axle and asked the community how it might have happened. One reply blamed the issue squarely on Trail Turn Assist saying in part “The forces from one brake being locked up, and the other side unlocked, combine with the forces that want to cause axle wrap or pinion lift (twist) are too much for Dana spicers housing.”"
[5]=>
string(407) "
They go on to say that it’s happened to others and that their solution was to weld all the way around the joint. That fix isn’t something that a customer should have to do on a new SUV and for most, it’s not even a practical one. The same original poster came back a day after starting the thread to say that the dealer “won’t cover it because I took it off-road.”"
[6]=>
string(662) "
Another individual kicked off a post saying “Trail Turn Assist causes axle weld failure that dealer won’t warranty!!!” According to them, “The axle tubes aren’t welded properly from the factory to handle the force of the inner tire braking while activating Trail Turn assist in our vehicles.” Later in the thread, he says that the reason the dealer denied his warranty claim was that his Bronco has “aftermarket suspension mods.”"
[7]=>
string(320) "
It’s worth noting that Ford’s own documentation says “Ford Bronco vehicles are designed to meet customer demands during off-road adventures… Using the vehicle as described the in the Owner’s Manual>Driving Hints/Four-Wheel Drive, does not void the vehicle’s warranty.”"
[8]=>
string(495) "
Of course, using it as intended is a key factor when it comes down to deciding how much coverage a warranty provides. Ford also offers caution regarding Trail Turn Assist, specifically saying “Do not use trail turn assist on dry, hard surfaced roads. Doing so can produce excessive noise, increase tire wear and may damage drive line, or braking components. Trail turn assist is only intended for slippery, or loose surfaces.”"
[9]=>
string(411) "
That seems to indicate that there are very limited usage cases for the feature and that engaging it outside of those cases could result in denial of coverage. It’s also worth noting that as we haven’t seen any video or hard evidence that Trail Turn Assist itself actually caused these broken welds it’s impossible to say for sure that there wasn’t something else that is to blame."
[10]=>
string(161) "
Regardless, we’ve reached out to Ford in hopes of getting a better idea of what’s going on here. We’ll update this post if we hear back."
[11]=>
string(1657) "
"
}
